Kākāpō are dying, and we humans don't seem to care

Monday, 27 May 2019

Sirocco the kākāpō was a popular attraction when he visited Karori wildlife sanctuary Zealandia.

OPINION: If you walked down what is now Queen St thousands of years ago, I remember a scientist once telling me, you would have come across a small stream and quite a few kākāpō. However, today, if you wanted to see one of these beautiful native birds – the heaviest parrot in the world and the only flightless one – in the wild, you'd be out of luck as they are 'functionally extinct' from our mainland.

I was lucky enough to see the famous Sirocco at Zealandia a few years back, and still remember the evening vividly. Sirocco shot to international fame when he tried to shag the head of zoologist Mark Cawardine while he was making a TV documentary – Last Chance to See – with Stephen Fry, about endangered animals. Though I had seen great video footage of Sirocco, seeing him close up was an unforgettable experience.

Some conservationists sigh when people like me say how much we love the kākāpō. They patiently point out that there are a host of other critically endangered plants and animals in New Zealand that don't happen to be cute and cuddly, that don't smell like 'a musty clarinet case', that don't get visits from international film crews, and that don't get the same generous level of public support and funding that the kākāpō receives.

Sirocco the kakapo gets amorous with BBC filmmaker Mark Cawardine during filming of 'Last Chance to See' with Stephen Fry.

They would be dead right, although I would argue that if more New Zealanders got to actually see a kākāpō and learn more about its plight then they might also be inspired to help save the southern elephant seal, Cromwell chafer beetle, Canterbury knobbled weevil and the Wallaceville pubic louse with the same passion.

And let's not forget that our national bird, the kiwi, is currently suffering a population decline of about 2 per cent a year.

Chafer beetles at the Cromwell Chafer Beetle Nature Reserve in Central Otago. Redbacks prey on the beetles and are a threat to their existence.

Kākāpō chicks chicks being hand-raised by DOC staff in Invercargill.

* DOC rangers using drones to fly kākāpō semen to breeding sites

* No more room on predator-free islands as kākāpō population explodes**

New Zealand doesn't have historic cathedrals like Notre Dame. Instead our wildlife is our heritage - but where is the rush to save it? (File photo)

The story of how the kākāpō came back from the brink of extinction in the mid-70s is a brilliant one. According to author Alison Ballance, total kākāpō numbers were probably fewer than 20 around 1975. At that time a bunch of dedicated Department of Conservation (DOC) staff, including Don Merton, realised that the best way to save the kākāpō was to transfer them to offshore, predator-free, islands. The plan worked and kākāpō numbers have increased slowly but steadily since then.

Most New Zealanders are probably aware of how difficult it can be to get kākāpō to reproduce. They don't breed every year and conditions, including the production of rimu fruit and seeds, must be right.

Dave Armstrong: 'Given that large segments of our human population still like to discuss whether a certain rugby team was poisoned of the eve of a World Cup final more than two decades ago, you would think that this latest kākāpō health crisis would cause a similar amount of public concern. I'm not so sure.'

So are these big fat clumsy parrots really worth the effort? Let's not forget that, before humans arrived here, these guys were an amazingly successfully species. They had adapted to New Zealand conditions, over millions of years, brilliantly. Their claws are ideal for living on the forest floor and they have incredible camouflage.

When Europeans first arrived, some talked of shaking a tree and three or four kākāpō falling out. The problem was the arrival of these humans and the pests they introduced.

Thankfully, DOC still has dedicated staff committed to increasing kākāpō numbers, including Andrew Digby, whose Twitter feed containing closeup footage of kākāpō is a delight. It was all looking great early this year, after the most successful breeding season of recent years, with more than 70 chicks born – surely cause for national celebration.

Then disaster struck. Over a six-week period, six kākāpō – two adults and four chicks– died from a fungal disease that attacks the respiratory system called aspergillosis. That's a lot given the total adult kākāpō population is only about 140. Experts were scratching their heads.

Though, according to Digby, there are various theories – that after a tough breeding season, the immune systems of some of the birds were compromised – no-one knows for sure what has caused the outbreak.

Affected and at-risk kākāpō have been moved back to the mainland for veterinary care of a disease that is difficult to both detect and treat. Two kākāpō have bad cases of aspergillosis and may not survive.

Given that large segments of our human population still like to discuss whether a certain rugby team was poisoned on the eve of a World Cup final more than two decades ago, you would think that this latest kākāpō health crisis would cause a similar amount of public concern. I'm not so sure.

By all means become worried if Kane Williamson strains his thigh, or Boulty pulls a hammy just before the Cricket World Cup,but also spare a thought for Atareta, Boomer, Sirocco, Sinbad and the 138 other living adult kākāpō and the 73 living chicks as DOC staff try to treat the aspergillosis outbreak.

It was Don Merton who talked about New Zealand not having the beautiful, historic cathedrals and buildings of Europe. Instead, our wildlife is our equivalent heritage. When Notre Dame caught on fire, people rushed to help. Hopefully, New Zealanders will respond to the fungal disease hurting our precious kākāpō population the same way.